Last.



A. LATHAM;

LAST.

APPLICATIONIHLED MAR. 8, 1916.

Patented Oct. 22, 1918.

)//VVE/V 717/1 era inter ALBERT LATHAM, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 UNITED SHOE MACHZNERY CGBPORATION, OFPATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A. COE- POBATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LAST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 22, 19118.

Application filed March 8, 1916. Serial No. 82,886.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, ALBERT LATHAM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Beverly, in the county. of Essex and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain improvements in Lasts, of which the followingdescription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating likeparts in the several figures.

This invention relates to lasts for use in the manufacture of boots andshoes. It has been found that the provision of sufiicient lasts to keeppace with the rapidly changing styles in foot-wear entails the outlay ofa great deal of money on the part of shoe manufacturers. Inasmuch as thechanges in style are made almost entirely in the foreparts of the lasts,it has been recognized as desirable to make the heel parts detachable inorder that the same heel part may be used with a number of fore parts ofdifierent styles.

It has also been found that the pressure of the heeling machine destroysthe heel part of a last beforev the fore part is worn out and it hasbeen Laund to be advantageous to remove the heel part while the forepart remains in the shoe and heel the shoe directly upon an anvil plateon the heeling machine. It is an objectof my invention to provide a lasthaving a heel part easily detachable from the fore part while the lastis .in the shoe and which shall be strong, light, and cheap tomanufacture.

A feature of my invention is a last having a hook and pintle hingeconnection, the opening in the hook being vertically directed when thelast is in collapsed position, whereby the heel part may be easilylifted away from the fore part when a last is in a shoe.

It has been found thatit is advisable to place the hinge in a hingedlast as close to the tread face as possible since all that portion ofthe last above the hinge shortens with the first movement of the hinge.Separable hinged lasts with upturnedhooks on the heel parts have beenproposed, but, since such a hook must engage under its pintle, it hasbeen found necessary to place the pintle higher than would be otherwiseadvisable;

The illustrated construction embodies also a feature of the inventionwhich avoids this dificulty. namely, a last having a fore part carryinga pintle and a heel part carrying a downturned hook, whereby the hingeconnection may be placed close to the tread surface of the last andrapid shortening and easy removal of the heel part from the shoe issecured.

This and other features of the invention, comprising certainarrangements and combinations of parts, will be explained in thefollowing specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings which show a preferred embodiment of my invention,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a last,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly broken away, and

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the hinge.

The fore part 1 carries a yoke 2 which is doweled into the fore part byone or more dowels 3, and is approximately half the lateral thickness ofthe last in width. The yoke carries at its outer end a horizontal pin 4.It will be seen from Fig. 3 that the yoke is very substantiallyconstructed. The abutment block 5 is doweled at 6 to the upper portionof the fore part and carries a small dowel 7 to hold it in properalinement. It has a lock pin 8 on its upper surface. The heel part ofthe last carries on its forward face a downturned hook 9 which fitsbetween the arms of the yoke 2. At the upper front corner of the heelpart is a pivoted locking bar 10, which locking bar has a hole in itsfront end adapted to engage the pin 8 whereby the fore part and heelpart are positively held against relative movement in either direction.

The bar a 10 is drawn downward by a spring 11 which is fastened at oneend to the heel part and rests in a notch in the lower side of the bar10. The upper side of the bar 10 has a boss 12 designed to be engaged bya suitable projection u on a jack in order to unlock the last. T eabutting faces of the heel part and fore part have tongue and grooveengagement at 13 to assist in holding the heel partand fore part inaline- Inent. I

The dowels are bored out at 14 for the sake of lightness. The thimble 15is shouldered at 16 to support the heel plate 17 and is reduced at 18for the sake of lightness. The Wooden plugs 19 and 20 are for tacks asis well known and the thimble 15 1S loosed i er to secure lightness anclto facilitate toe "enaoval a out nlng 20.

When the locking bar 10 is clisengagecl from the pin 8 the heel/part canbe rotatecl about the pin a until thetongne and. groove 13 aredisengaged the heel part can be teen liftetl away from the fore part. Itwill be clear that it is not necessary to move the heel part neck-Ward.in osclei" to unliools it from the "fore part as Woulcl be the case ifthe hook 9 Were turned up instead of clown. The open portion of the hookis so directed as to inalie possible the lifting of the heel partvertically out of the slice as soon as it has been turned up to meetfore part. ing downward of the hook permits the pintle l to be nearerthe tread face of the than would be possible in the case oi an 1119-turned hook.

Having clescrloccl my invention, What I claim as new. and desirevtosecure by Letters :Patent of the United States is 3-- 1. In a last, aforce part anti a heel part, one carrying a pintle, the other carrying ahook, saicl nook anal pintle constituting a hinge a oont which saiclfore and heel are constructed and arranged to turn relatively in orderto collapse the last, t'ne heel part losing constructecl ancl anangeclto lie removable "from he shoe after collapse Without turbing L118 foz'eand. openpoL-cion said noel: losing clieeci zecl 'lt will be seen alsothat the tiiitm constructed and arranged to engage said pintle and toturn upon it with said lieel part, into collapsed position.

3., in a last, a fore part having a pintle, and. a heel pait having a(loWntui-neel nook constructed and arranged to engage said pintle and toturn ugoon it with said heel part into collapsed position, the openportion of said book being substantially pen oenclicnlar to t e treaclface of the last when saicl heel part is in collapseol position.

l. In a last, ifore part, a pintle rela tively near the treacl face ofsail fore-part and a heel part having a clowntumeol llOUlK constructedand; arranged to engage said pintie and. permit the collapse of thelast, the open portion of saicl licols being directerl substantiallyperpendicular to ancl diectlg! towarcl the tread face of the fore partwhen the heel part is in collapsecl position.

5. In a last, a hinge comprising a yoke having parallel arms spacedapart approximately half the Wicltli of the last, and a pintle extendingbetween said arms and a noel: member sulosantially fitting between saidarms and ovez saicl pintle.

In testimony whereof l have signed name to this sp m

